


Kings for the day

by shewarbler



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: Football | Soccer, Jogan - Freeform, Julian gets defensive, Julian is Logan's biggest fan, Logan needs to get it together, M/M, Stuart Trio, eventual boy kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 14:11:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14672757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewarbler/pseuds/shewarbler
Summary: The Dalton Academy Kings face the St Patrick's Lions in the deciding game of the season, and when things get a little out of hand, the team have to turn to some unlikely bodies for support. Also known as - Logan Wright needs to get it together, St Patrick's are dumb, and Julian Larson is suddenly the biggest soccer supporter in the entire school.





	Kings for the day

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so I'm not totally happy with how this is written but the idea wouldn't stop bouncing around in my head so I had to get it out somehow. Also, I'm not the biggest football/soccer fan so the plays of the game might not be totally accurate, plus I'm British but I've tried to use American terms so there might be some inconsistencies there lmao. Enjoy!

Mercifully when the referee blew the whistle for half time the rain had stopped pounding, and although the pitch was now a sloppy mess, the Dalton Kings gratefully retreated to their locker room for a breather. The atmosphere however, was far from relaxing. Derek sat on the bench with his head between his knees trying to lower his blood pressure, while Charlie switched his jersey for one that didn’t have muddy handprints all over his number.

“Man, we are getting hammered out there! I don’t know how many times they’ve made a move that should’ve landed them a goal.” Derek muttered to no one in particular, although everyone groaned in response.

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed Derek. Guess I’m too busy making up for you lot slacking off!” David snapped from the other side of the room, throwing one of his gloves at Derek in response to his comment.

“Don’t blame this on me, Sullivan! Danny’s the one who keeps giving away all the passes!” Derek yelled, tossing the glove back at David with more force then necessary. David managed to catch it easily, and raised an eyebrow at the Stuart as if to prove his point.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you lot keep forgetting I’m left footed!” Danny retorted defensively.

The locker room descended into chaos after that, with the boys hurtling insults at each other as their bad habits and poor techniques were criticised. Charlie rolled his eyes at the lot of them, annoyed at the fact that despite having changed into a fresh strip he still felt soggy, and whistled to get the attention of his team.

“Alright enough already! Do you think this is what the Lions are doing right now?” he didn’t wait for an answer, “No! They’ll be over there adapting their technique; analysing the first half to improve their plays! We should be working out how to beat them, not pointing out our own flaws!” he heaved a sigh and looked around the room, “Look, I know we’re all tired and wet and feeling a little defeated, but we have to go back out there and show St Patrick’s that we’re not going down without a fight!”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Spencer challenged, his wet hair shoved back from his face exposing more of his ‘bitch please’ look than normal.

“Yeah Charlie,” Derek continued, elbows resting on his knees now, “Thanks to fucking Wilson we’re two players down. Three if Wes isn’t capable of playing the second half.” He looked exasperated, the effects of the game clearly taking a toll on him.

“How you doing anyway, Wes?” David asked as he walked to his best friend.

Wes, who was currently sprawled face down on one of the benches, didn’t even look up to respond, “Once the room stops spinning and I can get my shoe on over the swelling, I’ll be good to go! Just give me five…”

David looked at the room, “Yeah…he’s not coming back on.” and sat next to Wes to comfortingly pet his hair. Wes mumbled randomly in response, “This is fine…everything is fine…” and hugged the bench closer to him.

“Face it boys, we’re screwed!” Danny said dejectedly, earning a round of sighs from the locker room.

Needless to say, the game hadn’t gone well for the Dalton side thus far, and the boys in the crowd felt just as disappointed as their team. They had cheered along despite the unrelenting rain for the first ten minutes, erupting into applause when Derek scored their first goal, but as the game wore on and St Patrick’s began to dominate the play, the cheers gradually turned into groans and curses. Thanks to David’s superhuman ability as a goalkeeper, the Lions had only managed to achieve a single goal lead – however they were quickly grinding him down as the Kings defence was continually dodged by the St Patrick’s attackers.

One particular striker, Tom Wilson, had proved to be lethal to the Dalton team as he repeatedly tackled their best players to the ground. After one particularly bad tackle landed Thad on a stretcher and the referees _still_ hadn’t called a penalty on Wilson’s foul playing, Derek had advanced on the officials and spouted a mountain of anger about their lack of calls. The referee responded by blowing his whistle and waving a yellow card at Derek, issuing him a warning to control his temper or he would be sent off. Derek had bit his tongue at that, and the crowd cheered him on as he lined up for another shot.

The final blow came for the Kings when Wilson blatantly stomped on Wes’ foot as he ran in for a tackle, making Wes recoil too quickly, overbalance and land head first against the railings. Play stopped immediately as the Kings raced to Wes’ aid, some going to his side while others confronted Wilson over his attack. After a heated exchange Spencer shoved Wilson away from him, causing the Lions player to fall to the ground clutching his shoulder in a very dramatic display. Spencer stood over him shaking his head in disbelief as the whistle sounded and the Dalton Kings were sent to the locker room with a final warning. The boys helped Wes to his feet and tried to ignore the smug looks on the faces of the St Patrick’s players as they headed off the pitch.

“What are we gonna do now? They’re two players down!” Reed exclaimed in anguish from the side-lines. He and the rest of the Windsor boys had run to the spot where Wes had fallen, and were now slowly making their way back up to their seats.

Blaine sighed as they settled down again, “Three actually. Bailey wiped out in the first five minutes, remember?” They all winced at the memory of the smallest boy on the team being tackled to the ground on his first touch of the ball.

“Maybe they’ll just try to play short-handed? I mean, David does the work of two players as it is. I imagine someone might be able to step up and play two positions.” Ethan considered for a moment, his twin nodding along. Both boys had taken the decision to paint their faces in the Kings colours, which looked great at the beginning of the game, but with the volume of rain they had been exposed to now looked like washed out cartoons.

Julian chimed in from his seat behind them, “Whatever they do they better decide fast, I refuse to stay in this rain any longer than necessary.” He grimaced and pulled his collar up even further, huddling his face inside of it.

Logan smirked beside him and pulled Julian a little closer underneath his umbrella, only the tiniest bit relieved when the actor didn’t resist, “Hey, we have to stay in case we need to go pull Derek off one of those referees. Besides, he promised us dinner after.”

Julian perked up a little at that, “True. But he is absolutely paying.”

Logan tried to keep his smile toned down as Julian snuggled against his shoulder, and wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him there.

* * *

Things in the locker room weren’t going as smoothly.

The medics had come by to check on Wes, and given the unfortunate but not unexpected news that he wouldn’t be able to play the second half. Now three players down, the Kings were debating the best course of action to take for the remainder of the game. A single idea kept reoccurring in their discussions which, although shot down immediately at first, became more and more appealing as their other options quickly dwindled.

“Anderson? Seriously? He quit, remember. I don’t exactly consider him reliable.” Derek had rejected the idea, and although he still wasn’t keen on the idea, he was quickly realising it may be their only answer.

“He was good though Derek. Even I can admit that he ran laps faster than anyone.” Spencer commented, recalling that what Blaine lacked in size, he made up for in speed.

Derek sighed and rubbed at his temples as the squabbles continued around him.

“He would at least be another body on the field! One that can actually keep up with us! I’d rather have him there to run defence than be three players down!” Danny reasoned, having agreed with David the second he had suggested their former teammate as a temporary replacement.

As captain the decision came to Charlie, but the Prefect still wasn’t sure. He turned to Derek for an anti-Windsor opinion, “What do you think, Derek? At least we know he can play.”

Having considered their utterly dire situation, Derek figured they had nothing left to lose if he voiced his opinions. _Fuck it_ , he thought, _might as well use Windsor madness to our advantage,_ “I think you guys are right.” Derek ignored the way everyone’s head snapped to face him – they were clearly surprised to hear him so readily agree with them.

Derek continued before anyone could interrupt, “Anderson _is_ good. And if you can get him to agree then I think we can at least go down swinging – the key word there being _if_. He quit for a reason remember.”

“I’ll deal with that. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll help out.” Charlie said, with only a mildly threatening tone to his voice.

“But…” Derek continued, already regretting his next words, “I don’t think Anderson alone will be enough to help us win. We need one more body…and I have the perfect person in mind.”

* * *

“You want me to _what?!_ ” two voices exclaimed at exactly the same moment.

Derek and Charlie had arrived at the Dalton stands a few moments ago, two jerseys in their hands and a proposition on their minds. Charlie made a beeline for a concerned looking Blaine, who must have had some inkling that this moment may come, as after his initial reaction (and some stern threatening from Charlie) he sighed heavily and took the jersey from Charlie. The Twins cheered loudly as Blaine jogged down the bleachers with Charlie and headed to get changed for the second half.

“Yay! Go White Rabbit!”

Derek on the other hand, was having more difficulty with his recruit.

“You must have taken one too many tackles tonight if you think I am going anywhere near that pitch Derek.” Logan had said sternly after checking that Derek was in fact, being serious.

“Come on Lo, we’re getting our asses kicked out there. You know enough about it to be able to just hang back and be an extra body. It’s not like I’m asking you to play front and centre!” Derek tried to convince Logan – at this point he wasn’t opposed to begging either.

“Why on earth would I even do that?! I’ve never played a game of soccer in my life.” Logan had tried to explain to Derek.

“That’s not true. You used to kick a ball around all the time during summer.” Julian interjected, but earned a truly _venomous_ glare in response.

“Not helping Julian!” Logan hissed at him, but regretted his tone afterward.

“Please Lo. I never ask you for anything! Think of all the shit I’ve done for you over the years – do I have to start listing things? You know I will!” Logan remained quiet, and Derek followed through on his threat, “Well for starters who’s been the one by your side throughout your constant mood swings huh? I’ve always been there for you, whether it’s getting your fucking coffee or listening to your _constant_ pining over Ju-“

“Oh my god alright!” Logan interrupted suddenly, face going scarlet as Derek almost spilled his secret about Julian _in front of Julian_ , “If I say yes will you stop goddam _talking?_ ” he glared at Derek, hoping that he would get the hint. He risked a glance at Julian, but as usual his expression remained unchanging. Logan hoped he hadn’t heard that last part.

“Yes! Thank you! Come on, we only have five minutes until we’re due back on.” Derek cheered and all but dragged Logan down the stairs.

Logan managed to pass his umbrella over to Julian before he was hauled away, and sent a pained smile to his friend as he left. Julian laughed in response, “You’ll have fun, I promise!” he had shouted after him, and tried to ignore how much he missed Logan’s arm around him already.

* * *

As the Kings and the Lions made their way back onto the pitch for the second half of the game, the Dalton stands erupted into enthusiastic cheers when they recognised the newest additions to their side. Even without numbers on their shirts, Blaine and Logan were easily recognisable. Logan took his place by Blaine near the goal – close enough for them to be able to comprehend the instructions David would yell to them throughout the game, but still at an effective defending distance.

“I can’t believe I agreed to this shit.” Logan mumbled unhappily, tugging at the too-short sleeves of his borrowed jersey.

“You and me both.” Blaine commented, lightly stretching his legs. He gestured to Logan, “You should stretch out a little. There’s nothing worse than a pulled hamstring.”

“I don’t plan on doing enough moving to jeopardise the condition of my muscles thanks.”

“Come on guys, look alive out there!” David called, clapping his gloved hands together and crouching into his favourite stance.

The whistle blew and suddenly everything was happening at high speed: Charlie successfully took control of the ball and side-stepped a Lions player before running at full speed up the pitch. The Dalton cheers were abruptly halted however when his pass to Danny was intercepted by a Lions player and the ball was quickly working its way back up the field toward Logan and Blaine.

“Logan! Mark him! Don’t let him pass the ball on!” David ordered, causing Logan to spring into action. He jogged over and met the Lions player on his approach, relieved to find he was taller than the other boy.

They danced around each other for a moment, the Lions player showing remarkable footwork and ultimately outsmarting Logan, sending the ball sailing past him toward the goal. The crowd winced as David took the full impact of the shot, but applauded at his save. While the referee retrieved the ball and set up the next kick, the Lions player studied Logan carefully, his head cocked in curiosity.

“Where did they pull you from? I would have noticed a pretty face like yours on the field earlier.” He commented, eyes shamelessly flicking over Logan’s body.

Before Logan could form a retort however Derek was yelling over at them, “Fuck off back to your own side, Wilson!” With a lingering look to Logan, Wilson jogged back to his position.

“Watch out for him,” Blaine warned a little breathless, having watched the interaction, “He gets under your skin. Aside from foul tackles, it’s what he does best.”

While the Kings performance in the second half didn’t worsen, it didn’t improve either. Time after time their shots were blocked or intercepted, and the Lions took advantage of every opportunity to test their newly acquired defensemen. Logan’s temper was flaring – he wasn’t playing well and the St Patrick’s team knew that, were trying to make most of their plays around him because they knew he couldn’t keep up. Thankfully, Blaine stuck close by and was able to free the ball every now and then, passing it back along to their more capable players up field.

Julian watched intently from the stands, his grip tightening around the umbrella every time the Lions surrounded Logan. Even from his place in the stands he could see the anger etched on Logan’s face, and figured it was only a matter of time before he snapped. Julian also couldn’t help but notice that one particular Lion’s player was more often than not the last one to leave Logan, always seemed to be saying something to the prefect whenever he was close enough, and it was getting on his nerves. He thought he could make out the name – _Wilson_ – and decided to keep an eye on him throughout the rest of the game.

Logan rolled his eyes as once again, Wilson was there and talking shit into his ear after the ball had been passed on. “So pretty boy – is it Logan? – what are you doing after the game? Seeing as you’re technically not a real Kings player I reckon I could sneak you into our after party. Would be nice to get to know you a little better…” he trailed off but still hung around Logan like a bad smell.

“You being on the opposing team aside, what makes you think I’d go for someone like you anyway?” Logan was getting frustrated with everything: his inability to play a simple game of soccer, the teams’ struggle to overcome the Lions, and to top it all off this cocky ass hole who just _couldn’t take a hint_. So he let it out a little. “Small, self-oriented jocks aren’t exactly my type.”

Logan watched in amusement as Wilson’s face transformed from a confident smirk, to shocked and offended, and quickly masked by a grimace and narrowed eyes. “Well. We’re still winning the game, and I think the presence of _loser_ at the party would just bring the mood down.”

“Is that the best you’ve got? Calling me a loser? I’m not twelve for fucks sake.” Logan laughed, subconsciously taking a step into Wilson’s personal space.

From the stands Julian and Kurt braced themselves for a potential explosion. Kurt sighed in relief when Spencer jogged over and joined the pair, but Julian was seething. He saw the way Wilson looked at Logan, and it made his blood boil.

“Wilson, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you wanted to join the Kings, what with the amount of dam time you spend hanging around our side.” Spencer commented, discretely trying to put a shoulder between Logan and the Lions player.

Wilson scoffed and retreated immediately, “Whatever. Like I’d be seen with you lot.”

Spencer rounded on Logan next, placed a hand on each of his shoulders and bent his head so he was eye level with Logan, “Hey. Keep it together man, don’t bite, it’ll just encourage him.”

Logan huffed and shrugged Spencer off, “Easier said than done Spencer. This is so fucking frustrating!”

“I know! Trust me, I know. I’ve suffered more losses to the Lions than you can imagine. But you gotta channel it. Use the anger to your advantage. You know what I mean.” He gave Logan one last intent look and ran back to the centre to join Derek.

 _“COME ON DALTON KINGS! YOU CAN DO IT!”_ someone roared from the stands, followed by cheers of agreement. Most of the boys grinned and set up for the next kick, but Logan was too preoccupied with staring at the stands where the sound had come from. Julian stood at by the barrier at the edge of the pitch, umbrella raised high in the air as he enthusiastically clapped and cheered, looking right at Logan. He was so engrossed in staring at Julian that he almost completely missed the ball as it was passed to him, but Julian’s excited face as he mouthed ‘ _Go! Run!’_ snapped him out of it, and he tore off down the pitch with the ball.

Logan felt good. No, he felt _great_. He thought about what Spencer had said, and channelled all his anger to his feet, willing them to _run faster move faster play better,_ and before he knew it he was within shooting distance of the Lions goal. He could clearly hear all the different voices of the people on his team, telling him to shoot the ball. Logan paused for a second to analyse the situation, and though… _fuck it_. He lined up for a shot and took one two three steps, lifted his foot to strike and then –

Mud. Pain. Yelling.

It took Logan longer than he would care to admit to come back to his senses and piece together how he ended up sprawled in the mud, face first. He lifted his head and saw Wilson slowly backing away from him, poisonous smirk spread all over his face. And then Logan remembered.

Just as his foot was about to make contact with the ball, someone had collided with him, sending him sprawling over and landing in a heap in the mud. That alone might have been forgiven, but when a hand pressed into the space between his shoulders, effectively pinning him to the muddy ground, Logan wanted revenge. He pushed himself up and glared at Wilson, seeing red as he spat out what tasted like mud and maybe a little blood. He didn’t care that the anger in his eyes was probably hindered by the fact that his face was covered in mud, and advanced on Wilson at frightening speed. Ignoring the repeated whistles from the officials, he grabbed Wilson’s elbow before he could walk away.

“Hey! Wilson! What the fuck was that?!” Logan demanded, holding the Lion in place despite his efforts to pull himself free.

Wilson stopped struggling as he took in Logan’s dishevelled, muddy appearance. His voice was dripping in cockiness as he spoke, “Not so pretty now, are we Logan?”

Logan’s grip tightened as he stepped close to Wilson, ready to unleash a fresh load of hell onto him despite Derek trying to pull him back, “Logan! Stop it! He’s not worth it man, we got the penalty now let go!”

“ _Hey asshole!_ ” a familiar voice bellowed as it approached them.

All three boys looked up in surprise as Julian Larson stomped angrily across the pitch, fists clenched at his side and a murderous look on his face. Derek and Logan blanched at the expression and automatically took a step back, both boys accustomed to that look and not wanting to be the ones on its receiving end. Luckily, for them at least, Julian’s glare was precisely fixed on Wilson’s face.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? Coming into our school and acting like a dick? Do you have any idea who he is? Who _I am?_ ” Julian demanded, walking right up to Wilson, not even flinching when the taller boy glowered down at him.

“I recognise you yeah. You’re some mediocre washed up child star. What do you care what happens to pretty boy over there?”

Julian raised a hand to stop him, “I’m going to let that slide. My issues aren’t related to what you think of me.” He gestured to Logan, “My issue is how you’ve been treating Logan. I get that the refs might be prepared to pretend not to see your dirty fucking tactics, but I’m not blind.” He took a couple steps closer, so that they were sharing personal space, “Now let me make something clear to you. For the remainder of the game, you are going to stay _far_ away from him. I mean, opposite side of the fucking pitch far. He has the ball? You let him have it.”

Wilson opened his mouth to argue back, but Julian swiftly pressed a finger to the St Patrick’s players’ lips, smiling politely, “I’m not finished. Now, you will word a _formal_ apology to Logan for your foul playing, and you will kindly offer to have the _entire_ teams strips dry cleaned to make up for the number of times you have tripped them this evening. _Then -_ ” Julian continued, slowly backing Wilson up toward the goal post, his demeanour unflinching, “- and I am not above threatening on this part, you still _stop_ the incessant flirting and you _will back the fuck off!_ ”

Silence followed as Julian held Wilson against the goal post with a single finger pressed to his lips, wearing a phenomenal bitch glare, and for a moment no one knew what was going to happen next. But then Julian withdrew his hand and plastered on his signature Cheshire grin, as a thoroughly shaken looking Wilson stared back at him, “Understand, pretty boy?”

Wilson tried to recover quickly, plastering a smirk on his face, but the fear and uncertainty were still evident in his eyes, “I mean, sure, whatever. But you really think you’re in a position to be threatening me? You’re standing here alone, after all.”

“Actually…” a voice said beside Wilson.

“…he’s not alone.” An identical one continued.

Julian took pleasure in watching the way Wilson leapt into the air as the Twins materialised on either side of him, recoiling in horror when he realised there were two of them. “What the fuck? Who are these guys?” he asked as he eyed them suspiciously.

“We’re your worst nightmare.” The Twins said together, arms crossed over their chests.

“Trust me,” Julian said, slinging an arm over Wilson’s shoulders, “You don’t wanna mess with them.”

Wilson seemed to consider the situation for a moment, looking between the Twins, Julian and Logan, before he shrugged away from Julian’s grasp and retreated to his waiting team, a murmured “Whatever.” as he went.

Julian glared after him even though he was out of sight, right up until the snickering from behind him turned into uncontrollable laughter. He turned to see the entire Dalton Kings team gathered behind him, trying to hold each other up as laughing wracked their bodies.

“Dude!” Derek managed to get out, “You scared off Wilson! Fucking _Wilson!_ This is the best day ever!”

Julian rolled his eyes at the lot of them and turned to walk back to the side lines, but Logan caught his arm before he disappeared, “Julian, hey.” Logan looked at him a little sheepishly as he spoke, as if he were scared he might say the wrong thing, “What was that? I mean, not that I’m not grateful for you standing up for me but…you stood up for me?”

“Of course I did. He was being an asshole and someone needed to stop him. I was simply defending your honour.” Julian said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Logan stared at him, an unidentifiable glimmer in his eyes. It made Julian feel a little strange. Not bad strange, but…strange.

“What? You should be glad I stood up for you. Stop staring at me!” he said finally, looking away and trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

Logan laughed a little awkwardly, as if just realising he was in fact staring at Julian, “Nothing. Just um…just nice to have you stick up for me I guess.” He smiled softly at Julian.

Julian smiled back a little, forgetting they were standing in the middle of a soccer pitch, “Yeah, well…seeing him hold you there in the mud…made me angry.” He reached up and rubbed some mud away from around Logan’s eye with his thumb, letting his hand linger for a moment more than necessary. Logan leaned into the touch, his eyes fluttering shut for the briefest second.

When he opened them again he smiled and raised his own hand to cover Julian’s, holding it in place and lightly rubbing over his knuckles. Logan licked his lips nervously before he spoke, “Jules…there’s something…”

But before he could say any more the whistle blew and the referee was bellowing at both teams to get back to their positions. Julian separated from Logan immediately, with him and the Twins being escorted off of the pitch by one of the officials and given a stern warning to stay in their seats. Logan watched after him for a contemplative moment before sighing, pulling himself together and walking back to the rest of his team.

The clock had run down further than anyone had realised, and with how much of a disaster the game had been, the officials had come to a joint decision with both team captains to end the game after Logan’s penalty. Relieved, Logan turned to make his way off the pitch and to a warm shower, but was stopped by Charlie, “Whoa, where do you think you’re going? It’s your shot!” he explained, turning Logan back around.

“Wait, what? I have to take the shot? Oh no, I don’t think so!” Logan tried to push back against Charlie, but Derek appeared and helped Charlie force him toward the ball. The scoreboard brightly displayed 2-1 in the Lions favour, but the Kings only had to draw to remain in the league – meaning Logan was their last chance at victory. “You do realise you’re pinning all hopes of pulling this game back on someone who’s never scored a goal in their entire life, right?” Logan tried to reason with them, panic starting to bubble in his throat.

“You can do this Logan.” Derek said confidently, bringing him to a stop in front of the ball. Which was in front of the goal. Which was being defended by an angry looking Lions player. Logan didn’t feel like he could do it.

He turned to Derek in panic, “Why can’t you take it? You’re the best player on the team! I’m useless Derek, you don’t want me to do this.”

“Um, well first of all, he’s not the best player, I am. Captain, remember?” Charlie interjected, sounding only mildly offended, “But he’s right Logan, you can do this. Think about how good it will feel to have helped us evade defeat by these assholes. Imagine the look on Wilson’s face when you score this goal.” Charlie tried his best to encourage Logan, but the Prefect looked even more terrified.

Derek huffed in annoyance and grabbed Logan, making direct eye contact with him, “Logan. Listen to me. Forget about what Charlie said.” The Windsor Prefect threw his hands up in defeat and walked away. “Don’t think. Don’t think about anything. Just feel. Feel the moment, and kick with everything you’ve got. Alright? Think you can do that?”

Logan nodded. He was good at feeling instead of thinking – did _that_ all the dam time.

“Good man.” Derek said, and lowered his voice a little, “and think how happy Julian will be if you score this goal.” He clapped Logan on the shoulder and ran off cackling before Logan could react.

Wide-eyed, Logan yelled after him, “Why the fuck would you say that?! I thought you wanted me _calm_ Derek!”

Derek laughed some more and shouted back, “Just _feel,_ Lo! You can do this!” He gestured to the Dalton stands to drum up some support, and it didn’t take long for the air to be full of chants of Logan’s name.

It was a strange experience for Logan, to hear so many people cheering in support just for him, and he closed his eyes to let himself enjoy the feeling for a moment. He took a few calming breaths. A final look to the crowd before the whistle blew – one single face stood out among the hundreds, and the support from that single person was all Logan needed to believe he could do this. Julian smiled at him, gave him an encouraging nod and small thumbs up before he turned away again.

The whistle blew and strangely, everything around Logan began to happen in slow motion. The only sounds he could hear were his own harsh breaths and his heartbeat drumming in his ears as he lined up to take the final shot of the game.

_Take a breath…_

_Look at the ball…_

_Look at the goal…_

_Pretend the goalkeeper isn’t there…_

_Look at the ball…_

_Take a step back…and another…_

_Take a breath…_

_Alright Logan…_

_One step…two step…three step…_

Contact.

The ball soared through the air. The stands held their breaths. The players braced for celebration. Julian tried to cover his eyes but couldn’t bear to look away.

The goalkeeper went left. The ball went right.

The Dalton stands exploded as Logan’s shot tore past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, and the siren sounded to signal his goal.

Logan stood frozen to the spot, breathing heavily and eyes wide as he watched the keeper angrily punch the goalpost. _Did he just…?_

His thoughts didn’t get much further however, as the side lines were being invaded by the players and the rest of the Dalton boys, all running directly to Logan. The Kings reached him first, all screaming and hugging him at the same time so Logan couldn’t be sure who was saying what.

“Logan _fucking_ Wright!”

“That’s my boy!”

“We fucking did it!”

“Can Logan join the team now?!”

Logan enjoyed their celebrations for a moment, the feeling of being jostled between hands clapping his back and shaking his own and arms hugging him not entirely unwelcome. His face hurt from smiling by the time he realised that someone was missing – someone important. Only after promising to come to the after party in Windsor did Logan managed to peel himself away from the celebrating crowd to start looking for Julian. Turns out he didn’t have to go far.

“Pretty sure if you smile any harder the top of your head is going to come off.” Julian said softly from the edges of the crowd. Logan whirled around to see him so fast he almost overbalanced, but managed to compose himself quickly.

“There you are. I was looking for you in there.” Logan said, awkwardly gesturing back to the madness. He hoped he came off as cool, calm and collected. He probably didn’t.

Julian laughed a little and slowly walked toward Logan, “I think I’ve made enough of a spectacle of myself today, don’t you?” Logan’s grin softened to a warm smile as he met Julian halfway, “So I guess congratulations are in order. Are you an honorary member of the Kings yet?”

“If I were would you come to all my games? It really helped to see your smile out there in the crowd.” Logan said, surprised at his own honesty.

Julian didn’t seem phased however, taking another step toward Logan, “I think I could manage that. I’d need you to teach me the rules though. If you don’t want me storming onto the pitch every time someone tackles you, that is.”

“I think I could manage that. Although I could definitely get used to you defending my honour every now and then.” Logan quipped, his tone light and happy. It made Julian’s heart swell to see him so carefree.

Both boys just stood there for a moment, probably looking silly as they smiled at each other without saying anything, but enjoying the moment of happiness. Logan looked away briefly, swallowing hard before looking back at Julian. _Now or never, Wright._

“Jules, about what I was saying earlier…” he began, chewing on his lip nervously.

Julian shook his head in response and raised a hand slightly to stop Logan from saying more, “Don’t say anything.”

Logan frowned for a second, wondering why Julian would shut him down so suddenly, but when Julian stepped in so close to him that he could see the little rain droplets in his hair, Logan couldn’t have said anything even if he had tried. Julian studied him carefully for a moment, eyes flicking between Logan’s nervously. His tongue flicked out over his lips and Logan had to remind himself to breathe. But then Julian stretched up onto his tiptoes, wrapped long slender fingers around Logan’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss, and Logan’s whole body felt like it was on fire. He flailed hopelessly for a second before his brain snapped into action and gave him a metaphorical kick up the ass.

Instinctively Logan’s hands found Julian’s waist, as they had done so many other times – whether it was hugs or holding a drunken Julian up, Logan’s hands always held onto his waist – but this was different. Instead of his usual strong grip, Logan held on gently and eased Julian closer to him with one hand, while his other hand migrated to cup Julian’s face. He felt Julian start to pull his lips away and a mild panic shot through his brain, causing him to chase after Julian and press their lips more firmly together. Julian made a surprised noise against him, and pulled away more promptly, wobbling backwards a little and making Logan hold onto him more tightly. Julian giggled a little breathlessly but didn’t move away, and Logan was thrilled when Julian wound his arms more firmly around his neck.

“Well…” Logan said awkwardly, mentally kicking himself immediately afterwards. _That’s it? That’s all you have to say?! Julian Larson has just fucking kissed you, get it together!_

“Who knew you could score a goal and make first base all in the one game?” Julian smiled, eyes sparkling under the floodlights of the field.

Logan frowned and smiled at the same time, a strange expression, “You really have no idea about sports, do you Jules?” he laughed.

“Shut up and kiss me again Logan.” Julian retorted, pulling Logan toward him with more force than before. Their lips slotted together expertly, as if they were designed for this, and Logan all but melted under Julian’s touch. He tasted like coffee and sugar, and Logan never wanted it to end.

Julian thought Logan tasted like mud and sweat. But there were undertones of mint and Julian knew that he wouldn’t taste like mud forever, so he could suffer it this one time if it meant he got to learn what other things Logan could taste of.

Oblivious to their surroundings, Logan and Julian would be informed later about Derek’s dramatic reaction. Upon seeing his two best friends wrapped up in each other in the midst of all the celebrating, Derek fell to his knees and double fist-pumped the air, shouting into the air at the top of his lungs, “ _Yes! Finally! Thank you!”_ with a massive grin on his face. And although he would reassure them it was simply an emotional release to winning the game, between the three of them knew he was just relieved to be rid of the overwhelming sexual tension his everyday life had previously been plagued by. He was happy for them too, of course, but he was definitely glad they were over this particular hurdle of their friendship and onto happier times.

**Author's Note:**

> Probably worth noting that Derek is my favourite character ever, to both read and write, especially when Logan and Julian finally get their shit together and he can carry on with his life as normal lmao. Thanks for reading!


End file.
